Yugioh: Grand Duelists
by Dyson
Summary: The greatest duelists in Cerlanta City have gathered to battle in the Grand Duelist Tournament, which hasn't been held in five years. Forget Egypt, forget the Millennium Items, these people are here for two reasons: Duel Monsters, and to win.
1. Round 1: Let The Games Begin

Note: The only thing from Yu-gi-oh that I am using is the game, Duel Monsters and Kaiba's Duel Discs. Forget all the creation concepts and characters from the show when reading this. The card names are all translated from Japanese, and the translations are from Edo (www.stormpages.com/edhrzic/Yugioh.htm), and the cards are all copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi. Also, please do not reproduce the characters or the story without my consent.   
  
____________________Let The Games Begins____________________  
  
Chance stood in front of the Duel Dome, a huge white dome in the center of downtown, created only for Duel Monsters. Each level of the building was for duels between different ranked players. Duelists like him would play on the higher levels, while many lower ranked players would duel in the far more plentiful arenas on the ground floor. The Duel Dome was created five years ago when the last Grand Duelist Tournament was held. Many thought that it would never see another tourney since it was only a card game, but people just couldn't stop playing.  
  
Chance checked his wrist piece, a Duel-Gear, the part of a Dueling Disc that held the cards. Duelists would keep their playing decks and ranking data on it so that every duel counted towards rising in the rankings. Most people couldn't afford the holographic disk part, so people had to rent them from places like the Duel Dome. He had his trusted deck already inserted into the machine, and the protection lock down so that the cards couldn't be pulled out.  
  
"Chance? You listening?" Said the boy beside him. Chance looked over at his friend Lucas. The two of them rarely dueled together but they have helped one another to rise to the top twelve duelists in the city. It wasn't just the city though, most of the people they had played against where from all over the world. Cerlanta City was well known for Duel Monsters, so the two of them might as well be in the top dozen in the world.  
  
"Yeah, I'm listening. What did you say?" Chance said, snapping out of his thoughts.  
  
"I asked if you want to go inside yet or not. You're acting like you've never seen the Duel Dome before." Lucas said, pulling his arm up to scratch the back of his head. On his wrist he had the Deck-Holder just like Chance, holding his own playing cards.  
  
"It's just what we're getting into. Cerlanta City hasn't had a tournament like this in five years Lucas. We're making history right here." Chance told him, spreading is arms out like he could show how big it all was.  
  
"And with the prizes, it finally pays off to have gotten into Duel Monsters. You get a cash prize for just being the best in your division." Lucas said, leaning slightly so he could think about the big piles of money.  
  
Chance suddenly remembered that he and Lucas would have to win the division to duel against one another. Since he lived in the Northern part of Cerlanta and Lucas lived in the Eastern part, they'd only meet in the semi- finals or the finals.  
  
"That reminds me, what's Ichiro up to?" Lucas asked, looking around and Duelists that were milling around.  
  
"Ichiro?" Chance said, thinking about the third in their party. Ichiro liked a challenge, always trying to play with decks that may not always work. He was in the top ranks but he didn't seem to have entered. "I don't know, he should at least be here to cheer for us."  
  
"Well maybe he's inside already, he always liked placing first. We have to pick up our discs before noon anyway, or we'll be disqualified. You got your deck already to play?" Lucas asked, tapping on the top of Chance's deck holder. Chance clicked off the protector and lifted off the first card, showing it to Lucas.  
  
Lucas smiled at the card and Chance turned the card so he could see it. It was his Black Magician. It was a special one though, only found in one out of fifty Black Magicians. That meant it was the only one, since they had made very limited production of favored cards.  
  
"Every single time I see that card I envy you Chance. Of all luck, you pulled that thing out." Lucas said. Chance knew what he was really talking about. When both he and Lucas had bought their first card packs, the very day that they began to collect the cards, Chance had pulled out that Black Magician. He had built his entire deck around the Black Magician, though he had yet to pull a second one from the rest of the packs he had bought.  
  
"It's my lucky card Lucas, it's saved me in every duel it was possible to win." Chance said, pulling his deck out and shuffling it. He slipped it back into the Duel-Gear and locked them into place. "Shall we go inside then?" He asked, looking over to his friend.  
  
"I'm ready when you are." Lucas said, cracking his knuckles and walking forward. Chance followed after him and they were soon past the automatic doors and into the lobby.  
  
They both took the stairs to the fourth floor, where the tournament would be taking place. When they arrived, there was a small number of people trading and talking before the duels began. Chance and Lucas both walked over to a table where a young lady stood with a computer.  
  
"Hello. How can I help you?" The young woman asked in an almost automatic way. She smiled at both of them and quickly looked at their Duel-Gears.  
  
"Hi. We're both here for the Grand Duelist Tournament." Chance said, smiling right back her.  
  
"Could I have your ranking data please?" The woman asked, reaching her hand out. Both Chance and Lucas responded by handing her a cord from their Gears. She plugged them into the side of the computer and looking at the data. She pulled the plugs out and turned again to the two boys. "Congratulations on entering the Grand Duelist Tournament. Now there are some special rules for the tournament that I will have to go over." The woman began, checking her screen periodically to check what she was supposed to say.  
  
"We don't really need any help with the rules." Lucas began, but Chance reached up and stopped him. Lucas looked over with a questioning look on his face but Chance just nodded.  
  
"Every Duel in this tournament will consist on only one battle, the winner of that moves on." The young lady began, after waiting for Lucas to finish. "In the Duel, Tributes to summon more powerful monsters are not needed, except for required special summons or effects. Only one monster may attack per turn." Lucas nodded his head slowly as the woman talked, only listening to the occasional words. "All normal restrictions apply to cards, except for certain people like the Eliminators." Chance listened carefully, knowing that there had to be something important. The Eliminators that they would face wouldn't be held by restrictions so he had to be careful about rare and powerful cards. "Finally, at the start of each duel, each Duelist must offer at least a single rare card, and the cards go to the winner of the duel." She finished, looking back at the two, who were now wearing surprised and terrified expressions.  
  
"What? I don't want to lose one of my cards!" Lucas complained, leaning over the desk towards the woman.  
  
"Those are the rules. It doesn't have to be from your deck though; duelists are allowed to carry any other cards they want as long as they only alter their deck in between matches." The woman told him calmly, pushing Lucas back off the desk. "Here are your Dueling Discs, you should go to the room labeled on your first duel on the Elimination Board." She added, pushing the discs over the table to the two.  
  
"Think about it this way Lucas, you could win some really rare cards!" Chance told him, grabbing both discs and turning Lucas from the desk and towards the group of Duelists.  
  
"You're right Chance, I could end up with some really great cards by the end of this Tournament." Lucas said, calming down. He checked his watch and looked at the Elimination board. "I have to go find my room, but you might be able to check out the others cards before yours starts. See ya." Lucas took one of the discs from Chance and headed towards the eastern corner of the floor.  
  
Chance walked over to the group and talking and trading duelist and was quickly approached by a teen about his age.  
  
"Hey, do you have any good Dragon cards?" The teen asked, looking Chance over. Chance recognized him from western division, but couldn't remember his name. He pulled out his small box of cards for trading and pulled out a Tri-Horn Dragon.  
  
"That's perfect! Would you trade it for this?" The teen asked, pulled out another card. Chance recognized it, Buster Blader. He didn't have one, and he could use another warrior card.  
  
"Sure, that's seems like a fair enough trade." Chance said, swapping cards with the teen. He took a closer look at the card. He knew that it was useful against dragons, and they seemed like the popular concept choice for this tournament. He turned the protection off his Duel-Gear and slipped the card it before turning it back on.  
  
Chance finished checking out the other duelists, none of them were from his division though. He checked the board for his first duel and found that it was nearly time for his match. He ran off with Duel Disc in hand towards the North Division dueling arenas.  
  
_________________________________________________  
  
Chance arrived at the arena first. The doors automatically identified his ranking off his Duel-Gear and opened. He walked to the far side of the room and started to plug the disc into his wrist piece. The room was a wide dome shape, with a top that was almost flat. The walls were all lined with small windows; they would supply the holographic background images for terrains and the basic arena backgrounds. The tournament hosts would probably choose an interesting background for the duels, and Chance was tense with anticipation.  
  
Chance still had his back to the door when it slid open and someone walked in. He turned around to find a young boy, no older then twelve standing before him. Chance walked over and put his hand out.  
  
"Name's Chance, good luck in the duel." He said, shaking the younger boy's hand. He was used to playing against younger kids, but he was surprised to see one in the tournament.  
  
"Randy, and same to you." The boy answered, releasing his grip and walking to one side of the arena. A display appeared in the center and clearly showed that both players were at 4000 life points. Chance moved opposite Randy and prepared the Duel Disc, holding it in one hand.  
  
"For this Duel I'll be offering my Retrained Elven Swordsman." Chance said, pulling the card out.  
  
"And I'll be betting the Time Magician." Randy replied, pulling his own card out. They both replaced their cards and pressed the starting keys on their Duel Discs.  
  
The white dome of the room began to disappear and was replaced with a screaming crowd. The floor turning into a stage, with markings for where both players were to stand. Chance stepped up to his mark and waited for the younger boy to do the same.  
  
"Let's Duel." Chance said clearly, causing a holographic spinner to appear. It suddenly began to turn quickly and slowed down, ending up pointing at Randy. Chance didn't care too much about losing the spin; he won more often when he got to go second. "It's your move then."  
  
There was a quick whir of the Deck-Gears as they shuffled automatically before they both drew cards. Chance took a look at his starting hand, clearly displayed in holographic form in front of him. He had picked up some good monster cards and a magic card. He looked up and waited for Randy to play his first monster.  
  
"I'll begin by playing the Rainbow Fish (1800/800) in attack mode!" Randy called out, tossing his dueling disc forward. The disc spun where it landed and created the hologram of a large fish, the sound of the image generation filled Chance's ears. Randy seemed to be quite pleased by his first move, and waited for Chance's turn.  
  
Chance drew his card, the Millennium Shield (0/3000). It might not be too useful now, so he'd just have to play something in attack. He chose the Blood Vors (1900/1200) and placed it onto the disc, tossing it out.  
  
"I play Blood Vors in attack mode and destroy the Rainbow Fish." Chance told the younger boy, and the holographic warrior sliced through the fish and destroyed it. Chance watched his opponent's life points go down to 3900. Randy pulled his disc back in and placed a new card on it.  
  
"I'll play the Vengeful Sword Stalker (2000/1600) in attack mode and destroy the Blood Vors." Randy said, tossing his disc out and creating another holo-battle. The large sword-wielding demon cut threw the smaller warrior and it burst into an array of light, the sound of glass shattering filled the arena. Chance life points went down to 3900, just like Randy.  
  
Chance pulled his next card out, Demon Kiss. This could raise the attack power of one of his monsters but it might be better to stall for another draw. Chance reeled in the disc and placed his Millennium Shield face down. He tossed it back on to the field, but no monster appeared.  
  
"I'm playing this monster face down." Chance explained, looking over to Randy. "Your move."  
  
Randy pulled his disc back and placed a second card onto it. He twirled the disc back into place and a giant elephant appeared next to his Sword Stalker.  
  
"This is the Garnetia Elephantes (2400/2000), a pretty rare card, and powerful too. I'll use it to attack your face down monster." Randy explained, and the warrior elephant stomped over and attacked the area over the disc, cracking its sword. Randy's life points dropped to 3300 and a shield grew out of Chance's Dueling Disc.  
  
"You're not going to get through my Shield without some more powerful cards." Chance told the younger boy, pulling his disc back. He drew his next card, and was happy to see it was his Black Magician (2500/2100). He placed the card on the disc and threw it forward. The spell-caster in black robes appeared before him, and the monster amazed Randy. "And I'll add the magic of Demon's Kiss to power his attack up 700 points." Chance continued, playing the card from his holographic hand. The Black Magician slowly looked eviler as his attack points slowly grew over 3000, his eyes glowing red and a small fang appearing at the side of his mouth. "I'll then attack the Vengeful Sword Stalker and destroy it." The Black Magician raised his staff and aimed it at the swordsman, dark energy shattering the monster instantly and sending Randy's life points down to 2100. The false crowd surroundings the duelists cheered as the monster was defeated.  
  
"Damn." Randy swore as he pulled his disc back him. He drew and placed a monster face down before tossing it back. "Your move."  
  
Chance pulled his next card out, Thousand Knives. He tossed the disc back and played the card. "I play the magic of Thousand Knives, which allows me to destroy a single monster if I have a Black Magician on the field, and I choose your face-down monster, destroying it before I attack your Garnetia Elephantes." Chance told the other duelist. His Magician flipped his cloak, knives flying out of it and destroying the defensive monster, and then raised his staff towards the elephant and caused it to explode, black energy flying out of where it once stood. Randy's life points were sent down again to 1300.  
  
Randy pulled his disc back in and looked at his holographic hand. He playing another monster facedown and tossed the disc. "Remember Chance, you can only attack once a turn, so I can stall with my monsters until I pull my card that can stop your Magician." He called to the other duelist.  
  
"Then I'd better end this now." Chance answered, he pulled his disc in and added a small monster. "I play the Magnet Warrior Gamma (1500/1800) in attack mode, and then I play the Magic Box of Death."  
  
"What?" Randy exclaimed, stepping back and off his mark.  
  
"The Magic Box of Death destroys one of your monsters but replaces it with one of mine. So I destroy your face-down card and replace it with my Magnet Warrior." Chance explained as a box captured both monsters, swords cutting through one. Both boxes opened and revealed the Magnet Warrior on Randy's side and a destroyed monster in the other. "And then I'll attack the Magnet Warrior with the Black Magician." The Black Magician once again raised his staff against an opponent and destroyed it. Randy's life points were reduced to zero and the holograms on the walls disappeared.  
  
"Damn." Randy said, pulling his disc back and walking over to Chance. "I thought I would have lasted longer."  
  
"You were pretty good, but I have to wonder how you entered the Tournament without better cards." Chance told the duelist, pulling his own disc in and walking to meet the boy in the center of the dome.  
  
"Well one of the top duelists didn't enter, so I won by a lottery, I'm in the top fifty in the city." Randy told him proudly.  
  
"Well you'll do fine against any opponent." Chance complimented as he walked towards the door.  
  
"Wait, you forgot your card!" Randy called, chasing after Chance. "Here, the Time Magician, just like I said."  
  
"I think it's a silly rule, you can keep the card." Chance told him, pushing the card back towards the kid. He began to walk back out before Randy stopped him again.  
  
"Please take it, I just want you to have it in your deck, so it can see some real duels." The boy told him, offering the card again.  
  
"Okay fine." Chance answered, talking the card and placing it randomly into his wrist piece.  
  
"Good luck on the rest of your duels!" Randy called out, running down the halls and away from the arena.  
  
Chance shook his head and walked back to the elimination board. He checked his spot, and found that it was already updated. His next match wasn't for half an hour, so he found the room that Lucas was dueling and walked towards it. He could hear the sounds of duels as he walked down the halls, and he finally found the right room. The rooms were made so people could walk in but couldn't be seen because of the holographic arenas. He opened the door and walked in, but didn't see a battle going on, and Lucas was leaning against the wall.  
  
"Hey Chance, how'd the duel go?" He asked, walking towards his friend. He seemed to be pretty tired, and Chance could expect that, he must have been waiting for twenty minutes now for the duel.  
  
"It went fine, but what happened here? Hasn't the other duelist arrived yet?" Chance asked, checking around the room again.  
  
"No, he hasn't shown up. I've been waiting the whole time. He must be some newbie afraid of my powerful monsters." Lucas said, flexing one arm and giving Chance a smile.  
  
"He's probably perfecting his deck so he can win. If he takes any longer, he'll be disqualified." Chance told his friends, turning so he could watch the door.  
  
"That wouldn't be any fun, winning without dueling." Lucas commented, kicking the floor. "So he better be here soon or else."  
  
"Or else what?" Asked a voice from the doorway. Both Chance and Lucas looked up to see a tall teen about their age, wearing a thick jacket. His shoulders were quite wide.  
  
"Or else. It'll be no fun?" Lucas lamely tried.  
  
"It'll be no fun dueling me anyway, since you'll lose." The large teen boasted, smiling. "I'm Bailey, the Insect Champion, and your opponent."  
  
_________________________________________________  
  
End Transmission 


	2. Round 2: Evolved Choices

Note: The only thing from Yu-gi-oh that I am using is the game, Duel Monsters and Kaiba's Duel Discs. Forget all the creation concepts and characters from the show when reading this. The card names are all translated from Japanese, and the translations are from Edo (www.stormpages.com/edhrzic/Yugioh.htm), and the cards are all copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi. Also, please do not reproduce the characters or the story without my consent.   
  
____________________Evolved Choices____________________  
  
Lucas and Bailey stood on opposite ends of the playing field, staring the other down. Chance had moved just off the main stage so that he could still watch the match without getting in the way of the hologram field. Having recognized both duelists the field had already set the life points to 4000.  
  
"Ready to put your deck where you mouth is Bailey? In this match I'll be offering the Holy Barrier Mirror Force." Lucas pulled out the trap card and showed it to Bailey before replacing it into his deck.  
  
"Not a card I really need, but it will be welcome in my deck. I'll be offering Gaia, The Dark Knight of the Gale (2300/2100)." He too pulled his card out, but he placed it back into his pocket instead of his deck.  
  
Lucas gripped the hard plastics of his Dueling Disc and clicked the power key. The room began to darken as the white dome became covered in moss and vines. The walls were suddenly stone and he saw Chance disappear into the hologram. The set-up was that of a dungeon or some kind of underground passage. Even though he knew that holograms only affect sight and sound, Lucas swore he could smell the stale air and feel the chill of cold stone.  
  
"Let's Duel." Bailey said, and the holographic spinner appeared before them. It spun quickly and landed on Bailey. "I get to go first then." He said, and both Duel-Gears buzzed as they shuffled.  
  
Lucas took a look at his first hand. He smiled to himself as he looked full in the Red Eyes Black Dragon. It was his favorite card and half of his deck's concept. This was going to be an easy duel.  
  
"For my first move." Bailey started, placing a card and tossing the disc out. "I'll be playing the Hatchling Moth (300/200) in defense mode." The small worm creature appeared and Lucas looked down on the sad little insect.  
  
"What is it going to do, bite my ankle?" Lucas said, looking up at Bailey.  
  
"That's not my entire move." Bailey continued. "I'm going to add the Evolutionary Cocoon (0/2000) to it." The worm began to spray itself with thin thread and soon grew into a large mass of silk.  
  
"Blah. This is why I hate insect." Lucas commented, looking away from the growing pod. "This is too easy." Lucas thought, looking at Bailey. "There's no way he could defend for too long with that."  
  
"I'll finish by adding the Horn of Light." Bailey said as a small horn attached itself to the top of the cocoon. "Your move."  
  
"Fine then. Better get ready to say goodbye to your pod, because it's going up in flames." Lucas pulled his card out, Raise Dead. There weren't any monsters for him to return from the dead so he moved right onto battling. "I'm going to play the Red Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000) in attack mode and place a magic or trap card." Lucas placed the cards and tossed it out. The large dragon flew out of the disc, it's wicked wings and sharp claws glinting black in the darkness of the dungeon. "Red Eyes, attack the Cocoon." The dragon took a deep breath and spat out a huge ball of flame. The ball exploded against the cocoon and fire bounced back, scorching the dragon. Lucas' life points went down to 3600.  
  
"Don't you know anything? The Horn of Light increases my defense by 800 points." Bailey commented, chuckling as the smoke cleared. The horn was shining a barrier in front of the cocoon, protecting it from the blast.  
  
"Fine, I'll get that cocoon next time." Lucas said, crossing his arms. "Your move Bailey."  
  
Bailey pulled his disc back in and drew his card. "Spooky place we're in, isn't it? There could be ghosts or something here."  
  
Lucas took a look around the arena. "That's silly, this is all a hologram. There wouldn't be any real ghosts here."  
  
"Guess you're right." Bailey said, placing a card on the disc. He tossed it back out. "I'll play another Hatchling Moth and add the Evolutionary Cocoon and a Horn of Light to it." A second cocoon appeared with a horn on it. "Your move."  
  
"How in the world did you pick those cards up that fast?" Lucas asked. "What are the chances of pulling those out twice?"  
  
"Looks like I'm just lucky. Your move." Bailey said, shrugging. On the sidelines, Chance took a long look at Bailey. He'd have to watch him more carefully.  
  
Lucas drew his card, the Gilfar Demon (2200/2500). Its effect wouldn't be of much use against the defensive monsters, but he could still play it. "I'll play the Gilfar Demon in defense mode." He placed the card and tossed his disc out. The wicked creature appeared in a blocking position. "Your move."  
  
Bailey pulled his disc back in and drew. He placed a trap or magic card down and tossed his disc out again, regenerating the pair of cocoons. "That's all I'm doing this turn, your move." Bailey said.  
  
"This stalling isn't going to get you anywhere." Lucas told his opponent. "Once I get the right card all your monsters are gone." He pulled his disc back in and drew another card. "This could be it." Lucas said out loud. He placed the card and tossed it out. "I'm playing the Legend Devil (1500/1800) in attack mode."  
  
"How's that going to help you? That must be the weakest card you have." Bailey asked, looking at the holographic demon.  
  
"But this one has an effect. During every one of my standby phases it's attack will increase by 700. I need to wait only two turns before your cocoons are gone." Lucas said, smiling at Bailey. "It's your move."  
  
"Your demon won't help you." Bailey said, pulling his disc in and drawing before he tossed the disc back out. "I won't do anything this turn and that makes it your move."  
  
"You're making this too easy on me Bailey." Lucas commented, pulling his disc back in and drawing. "It's about to get easier too." He tossed the disc back out, reforming his monsters; the Legend Devil was larger, his attack increased by 700. "I'm playing the Harpy's Feather Sweep, which destroys all your magic and trap cards, including your cocoons." An aura from one of Bailey's placed cards appeared and sucked in the power of magic card.  
  
"Your card doesn't do anything when I activate my Magic Jammer. All I have to do is discard one card from my hand to stop it, and now my cocoons are safe." Bailey laughed. "I'm sure that was your last real chance."  
  
"I can still win this. It's your move." Lucas sighed, he looked down at the ground and kicked the stone floor.  
  
On the sidelines Chance watched the entire battle go on. He swore as Lucas lost his chance to destroy the cocoons but then he caught a slight movement from Bailey. "That would explain a lot." He thought, moving out the door and down to the front desk.  
  
Bailey pulled his disc in and drew another card. "This turn I'll place one magic or trap card and a monster face down." The larger teen explained. "Time is running out. You'd better destroy these cocoons quickly. Your move."  
  
"This turn they're going down." Lucas told him, pulling in his disc. He drew the Demon Summon (2500/1200) and his Legend Devil grew larger and more powerful. He tossed the disc back out without playing anything. "Now my Legend Devil has an attack power of 2900, enough to take out your powered up cocoons. Legend Devil, attack one of the cocoons." The demon responded by leaping forward and tearing at the cocoon, but it was stopped by a wall of force a couple of feet away from.  
  
"That was my trap card, Attack Nullification. Your monster has been stopped dead." Bailey said to Lucas.  
  
"I know what the card does. I also know that it only works once, so next turn my Legend Devil will attack with more power then before." Lucas said, trying not to become too angry. "Your move."  
  
"It's far too late for your Legend Devil." Bailey boasted, pulling his disc in. "Because I can now play one of the most powerful insect cards, the Great Moth (2600/2500)!" He tossed the disc back out and one of the cocoons exploded into the form of a large moth.  
  
"That's your big trick? That thing can't even match my Legend Devil." Lucas told the other Duelist, motioning to the large demon.  
  
"True he can't attack that card, but I don't have to. I'll just reverse my Man-Eating Bug (450/600), which allows me to destroy one card, your Legend Devil to be more exact." Bailey said, and the bug jumped onto the Devil and tore a chunk out of it, causing it to shatter. "And then my Great Moth will attack and destroy your poor Red Eyes." The moth flapped its wings and sprayed the dragon with a fine powder. The dragon began to degrade and finally shattered into fragments.  
  
"My Red Eyes!" Lucas yelled as his life points fell to 3400.  
  
"It's your move." Bailey said, grinning wildly at his opponent.  
  
Lucas looked at the large floating moth and pulled his disc back in and thought about the situation, calming down. There was something familiar about the way Bailey played. Something about the combo that he pulled off, where did he remember it.  
  
_________________________________________________  
  
"It's your move Lucas." Ichiro said to his friend.  
  
"I know, I know." He replied, drawing his card. He placed one of his trap or magic cards down and looked back up. "I'm going to move my Gilfar Demon to defense mode." He said, moving the card on that mat. "Your move."  
  
"It's too late now, watch this." Ichiro said, laying down some cards. "First I'll flip my Harpy Lady and play two Ten-Thousand Reflections so I can place two Harpy's Lady Triplets in attack mode. I'll then flip my Saint Magician and bring back one of my magic cards. I'll choose Ten-Thousand Reflections and play it again, giving me my third Triplets." He stopped and looked up at Lucas. "Scared yet?" He asked.  
  
"Man, how do pull these things off? I can never get those kinds of combos to work." Lucas said, sighing.  
  
"Well I'll finish you quickly then. I'll play Seal Defense and move the Gilfar Demon to attack mode, and then add Cyber Bondage to one of my Triplets. Your Gilfar Demon is gone." Ichiro said, smiling at his friend.  
  
"Yeah, I know. Lemme see what I have down here. Wait! I'll play Holy Barrier Mirror Force, which destroys all your monsters in attack mode." Lucas said, happily flipping the card over.  
  
Ichiro took a look over the field and sighed. "That's my weak point." He said sadly. "I give up, I don't have any other tricks in this deck."  
  
"Great, it's nice to win against something like that." Lucas said, pulling his cards back onto his deck and shuffling them.  
  
"Just don't tell Chance that things like that work, okay?" Ichiro asked his friend. "I build my deck around a group of cards so carefully I'm not ready for the slightest trap."  
  
"It's okay, but I'm going to have to win the same way next time, okay?" Lucas said, grinning.  
  
"Don't be too sure, I'll make a better deck next time." Ichiro said, smiling back. "Now let's see if Chance can defeat this combo, okay?"  
  
"Sounds great, you might be able to beat him this time." Lucas answered, folding the mats and walking after Ichiro.  
  
_________________________________________________  
  
"That's it, all I have to do is stop his combo from completing." Lucas said to himself, looking over to his opponent.  
  
"Are you done trying to think already? I'm waiting for my turn so I can destroy you." Bailey said, tapping his foot and looking around the arena.  
  
"Don't be too sure." Lucas said, pulling his card. He looked down to it and saw a card he liked. "Get ready for this Bailey, it'll blow your bug away." Lucas said, tossing his disc back out.  
  
"Get it over with, you're not going to beat me." Bailey called back.  
  
"I'm going to play the Demon Summon in attack mode, and then I'm going to use Raise Dead to bring back my Red Eyes Black Dragon." As Lucas was talking, the Demon Summon and Red Eyes appeared side by side.  
  
"Neither of those monsters can defeat my Great Moth." Bailey said, taking a look at his watch.  
  
"Apart they can't, but when I use the magic card Fusion to combine them I can make a far more powerful monster." Lucas told his opponent as the magic affected the monsters. They shifted together and reformed into an evil creature with huge wings and sharp claws. It was covered in bone as its armor and it roared out loud, causing the arena to shake. "The Black Demon's Dragon (3200/2600)! Your moth is toast!" The dragon charged up a gigantic ball of fire and blasted the moth away, Bailey reeling back from the light of the fire and his life points dropped to 3400.  
  
"You will pay for destroying my moth." Bailey said, looking at the burnt spot where the moth once was.  
  
"It's your move, why not show me." Lucas taunted, he gave a thumbs up to where he thought Chance must be, but he didn't know his friend wasn't there.  
  
Bailey pulled his disc in and placed a card. He threw the disc back out and it spun in place. "I have a more powerful version of the Great Moth, though I rarely use it, but you've left my first cocoon alone for too long." Bailey said, the pod began to shift and move until wings burst out of it and a much larger moth appeared. "Say hello to my most powerful insect, that Perfectly Evolved Great Moth (3500/3000)!"  
  
"How could I have let you get that thing out?" Lucas said, clenching his teeth.  
  
"It's too late now," Bailey said, grinning wildly at Lucas. "Moth, attack the Black Demon's Dragon!" The moth flapped it's larger wings and dust and wind blew into the dragon. Particles of poison began to flow out of the moth's wings and towards Lucas and his monsters.  
  
Lucas looked at his monster and thought about anything he could do. Then he remembered the game with Ichiro and how he always fell into traps. He activated his last hope and watched the battle. A large pipe suddenly appeared and absorbed the pollen and wind, and then another end opened and fired it back at Bailey. His life points hit zero quickly and the holograms all disappeared.  
  
"What? What was that?" Bailey asked, looking around the white dome.  
  
"It was my trap card, Magic Cylinder, it negates an attack and sends it right back out you. Weren't ready for it, were you." Lucas said, calming down and pulling his dueling disc back it.  
  
"I'll duel you again and you'll lose." Bailey said, pulling his disc back in and looking at Lucas.  
  
"I don't think so." Said a voice from the front door.  
  
Bailey turned to the person in the doorway and looked that man there over. "What makes you think that?" He asked, slipping his cards back into his deck.  
  
"I'm one of the tournament referees, and we don't accept cheaters." The man said, stepping forward and flashing a badge.  
  
"What makes you think I was cheating?" Bailey asked worriedly.  
  
"Every match is being recorded and played for other duelist and for surveillance. Thousands of people saw you pulling cards out of your Duel- Gear while your opponent wasn't looking." The referee walked up onto the stage, and Chance walked in behind him.  
  
"Chance, what's this all about?" Lucas asked, motioning over to the ref while he placed his deck back in place.  
  
"I noticed that he was adding cards and told this referee, he checked the tapes and found that he really was cheating." Chance explained.  
  
"Does it really matter that he cheated? I did win after all." Lucas asked, pointing to the display that had Bailey listed at zero life points.  
  
"We take cheating very seriously in this tournament. Bailey, you have two punishments. First, you're rank will drop by fifty places." The referee began.  
  
"What? That's insane!" Bailey protested, but he was quickly cut off.  
  
"Secondly, your opponent here gets to choose and keep one of your cards other then the one you bet." The referee looked down at the teen and motioned for him to hand his deck to Lucas.  
  
"I think that this may be a little much too." Chance told the ref, but he turned and looked at him.  
  
"Tell me," The referee said, shifting his sunglasses. "Do you think we'll have many cheaters after people hear about this?"  
  
"Well no." Chance answered, looking over at the disgraced Bailey as Lucas looked through his cards.  
  
"That's exactly why it's so harsh. We expect that no one else will try to cheat if they know that they'll lose a card." The ref finished and turned to Lucas. "Have you selected a card?" He asked.  
  
"Yup, I've chosen his God of Destruction - Vasago (1100/900)." Lucas said. "And I also get his Gaia, right?" He said, holding up the second card.  
  
"That's right. Bailey, you'll have to come with me." The referee told the teen, leading him out and away from the arena.  
  
"Yes sir." Bailey sadly replied, following him out of the room.  
  
Lucas and Chance watched them leave before returning to the front desk and the elimination board themselves.  
  
"I'm really proud of you Lucas, you beat Bailey even though he was cheating. Nice work." Chance complimented his friend.  
  
"I'm surprised I won but I guess that I've learned a lot from dueling with lots of people." Lucas responded. They stopped by the elimination board and checked out the next round.  
  
"Looks like my match is starting soon, time to go for the northern division title, right?" Chance said finding his next match on the board.  
  
"Well the match to decide my opponent is still going on, so I guess I could come and watch your duel." Lucas said, pointing to the blank spot by his name.  
  
"Great, let's get over there then." Chance said, double-checking the room number and walking on to his next challenge.  
  
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End Transmission 


	3. Round 3: A Duel of Black Magic

Note: The only thing from Yu-gi-oh that I am using is the game, Duel Monsters and Kaiba's Duel Discs. Forget all the creation concepts and characters from the show when reading this. The card names are all translated from Japanese, and the translations are from Edo (www.stormpages.com/edhrzic/Yugioh.htm), and the cards are all copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi. Also, please do not reproduce the characters or the story without my consent.   
  
____________________A Duel of Black Magic____________________  
  
Chance brought his Duel-Gear up and checked that his deck was secure. He pulled out deck and shuffled it quickly before putting it back. He checked the Dueling Disc and checked the weight before replacing it by his side. Lucas looked over to his friend and saw all of his actions.  
  
"Chance, you okay? Don't worry, this will be an easy Duel for you." Lucas said, smiling widely at his friend.  
  
"It's not that I'm that afraid of losing Lucas, it's just that this is going to be for the northern division title. I haven't even heard of the other duelist either, and I don't know what to expect." Chance said, looking to the floor.  
  
"Well you've dueled a lot, and I don't think there's a deck that you aren't prepared for." Lucas commented. He checked the door numbers as they passed looking for the proper room.  
  
Chance smiled to himself and looked up, and he saw someone in the distance. It was almost a familiar person but he couldn't see them properly over the distance.  
  
"Here it is Chance, you ready to win the Division?" Lucas said, stopping his friend and turning him towards the door.  
  
Chance turned back to where he saw the person but they were already gone. He shook his head back and looked at the door, which quickly opened. He stepped into the room and forgot all about the person in the hall.  
  
The room was exactly like every other Dueling arena, and there was someone dressed in black standing on the other side of the platform.  
  
"Chance, how nice to see you." The figure said, stepping forward.  
  
Chance stepped onto the platform and looked at the other duelist, but it wasn't someone he recognized. "I don't think I know you." Chance said, looking to the other duelist.  
  
"That's true, but I know you." The person said. "I like to study my opponents so I can be better prepare. My name is Michael and from what I've seen, my deck is exactly like yours." The teen pulled his disc up and pressed the start button.  
  
"There's more to dueling then just the deck." Chance commented, pulling his own disc up and turning it on. "For this duel I'll be betting the."  
  
"Not so fast. I say we both bet a Black Magician." The other duelist said, holding up a card.  
  
Chance looked at his deck, he didn't want to offer up his card but he knew that things would work out in this one. "Fine, but I don't find it too fair. I'm sure you know that my Black Magician isn't a normal card."  
  
"I know all about your card, and just to make it fair I'll add the Tome of Secret, a card commonly added to the Black Magician." Michael pulled out the second card and replaced both of them back into his deck.  
  
The white dome wavered as the hologram slowly replaced the walls. Lucas, being outside the main platform, disappeared from site and left Chance alone with his opponent for the rest of the duel. The room was replaced with a giant thunderstorm and black clouds and the floor was that of a castle wall.  
  
Chance knew that there wasn't any rain, but the sounds of the thunder chilled his spine. "Let's Duel." Chance said, and the duelists' life points appeared a few meters off the ground. The holographic spinner appeared and landed on Chance.  
  
The Duel-Gears whirred before the opening hands were shown. Chance looked at his cards, mostly monster but he had a couple of magic cards there too. "For my first move I'll play Iron Knight Gear Freed (1800/1600) in attack mode." Chance tossed the disc out and the robot warrior appeared. "Your move."  
  
"A good opening play, but I have something better." Michael said, placing his cards. "I'm going to play Blood Vors and add the magic of Demon's Kiss to raise his attack to 2600." The warrior appeared over the disc and black spirits flowed through its body, charging its power. "Then I destroy the Iron Knight before I end my turn." The warrior ran forward and slashed the machine, destroying it utterly as it shattered.  
  
Chance watched his life points fall to 3200 and he pulled his disc in. He drew his card and smiled. He placed three cards down and tossed his disc out, creating another holographic warrior. "I'll play Magic Swordsman: Neo (1700/100) in attack mode and add the power of Shine castle to raise his attack 700 points." Rays of light from the castle in a card spot engulfed the warrior and his sword glowed with power. "Before attacking I'm going to use Magic Removal to destroy your Demon's Kiss." The Blood Vors shrunk down and the dark spirits fragmented and disappeared. "I'm then going to destroy your monster." Neo cast a spell over his sword and let out a slash that tore the Blood Vors in half. Michael's life points fell to 3500 and he pulled his disc in.  
  
"My move?" He asked. Chance nodded and the teen drew his next card. "I'm going to put this card face down and in defence mode, and I'm sure that you know what card it is. You have the same one." Michael placed the card and spun the disc back into place. "That ends my turn."  
  
Chance grabbed his disc and drew his next card. He placed the trap card and put another card face down. "I'm going to place my own card in defence mode, and then attack your monster." Neo cast his spell and slashed with his sword, but the Millennium Shield leaped out of the card place and stopped the blast dead. A sudden return of the shockwave hit the swordsman and Chance's life points fell to 2600. "I thought as much, it's your move."  
  
"It's much be interesting, falling into your own traps." Michael noted, pulling his disc back in and drawing a card. "I'm going to sacrifice half my life points to play the Curtain of Black Magic." He tossed his disc back out and his life points halved to 1750. The Black Magician appeared from the card and surveyed the field. "Next I play Thousand Knifes and destroy your face-down monster." The Magician swept his cape and knifes stabbed the monster. A Millennium Shield appeared and shattered before even fully forming. "Now my Magician will destroy your Magic Swordsman." The Black Magician raised his hand and projected a spell towards Neo. It was suddenly stopped by a Millennium Shield and bounced back at the Magician. Michael's life dropped to 1250 and he looked over at Chance. "I destroyed your shield!" He called.  
  
"It wasn't my shield that blocked that attack, it was yours. I played Magic Shield Arm to use the Millennium Shield to block the attack." Chance smiled. "I guess it's my move then?"  
  
"A good trick but you'll lose in the end. It's your move." Michael calmly said, but Chance saw him squeezing his fist tightly.  
  
Chance pulling in his disc and pulled his next card. "I'm going to start by playing Jar of Greed, which allows me to draw two more cards." Chance told his opponent. He drew two more cards and was happy to see that one of them was the Black Magician. He looked at the other available cards in his had and smiled. He placed the remaining three cards from his hand onto the Dueling Disc and tossed it out. The disc spun and began to create the holograms. "I'm going to begin by playing that Black Magician, in attack mode."  
  
The hologram appeared and for the first time Chance noticed that there were a number of small differences between the two Black Magicians. His cape was a little darker and there were runes all along his staff. Chance also thought that Michael's Magician had a blank look in his eyes, while his own seemed to be watching everything.  
  
"Next I'm going to use the Magic Box of Death and switch Neo for your Millennium Shield." The boxes appeared and swords cut through the first one. They suddenly both opened and Neo was on Michael's field, but he didn't have the power of the Shine Castle boosting his power. In the skewered box the Millennium Shield appeared before it shattered. "Then I'm going to destroy my own Magic Swordsman!" The Black Magician raised his staff at the swordsman and a charge of black magic wiped the monster from the field. Michael's life points dropped to 450.  
  
"Quite a good play, but you should know that I have all those cards too." The other duelist commented.  
  
"I'm sure that you've used that play before. It's your move." Chance said calmly.  
  
Michael pulled his disc in and drew a card. He looked over to Chance and sighed. "Since we both have out Magicians out, we're fairly matched for now. It's your move."  
  
Chance pulled in his disc and looked at his card. It was a weak monster, not something that he'd want to play against the Magician. "I can't do anything this turn either so I'll end it." Chance tossed his disc back out and the Magicians were face to face again.  
  
Michael sighed loudly as he drew his next card. "This could take quite a while Chance, I know that you don't have many equipment cards." He played the disc out and motioned for Chance to make his move.  
  
Chance thought back to the many duels he had played in. How could you play against someone who knew your every card? This was something that had come up many times before in duels with his friends Lucas and Ichiro.  
  
_________________________________________________  
  
"I play the Black Magician in attack mode." Chance said, playing his card.  
  
"Let me guess, you're going to add Demon's Kiss?" Lucas said, smiling.  
  
"You know it, and that means your Dark Necrophia is gone." Chance said, tapping Lucas' monster card. "Your move."  
  
"You never disappoint Chance. I'm going to play Harpy's Feather Sweep and destroy the Demon's Kiss, and then I play the Red Eye Black Dragon with the Dragon Orb. You Magician is gone. Your move."  
  
"Damn, that's one of my best cards too." Chance said, drawing. "But this will work just as well. I'll play the Blood Vors in attack."  
  
"What do you have up your sleeve Chance?" Lucas asked.  
  
"I'm going to play Magic Destruction to take out the Dragon Orb and then I'm going to add the Fused Weapon Murasame." Chance said, playing out his cards.  
  
"What? When did you get a card like that?" Lucas asked, leaning over the playing field and looking at the card.  
  
"You forget that I trade often and buy new packs all the time, I just picked this one up in a fair trade." Chance said, lifting the card up so Lucas could take a look at it.  
  
"My Red Eyes is gone, isn't he?" Lucas asked.  
  
"Yup, and that takes care of your life points too." Chance commented, he began to pick his cards up off the field.  
  
"Here I was, thinking I could beat you by knowing your deck. Fine, I'll beat you sooner or later you know." Lucas said.  
  
"And I'll always have something up my sleeve to make it harder for you too." Chance smiled and both teens laughed.  
  
_________________________________________________  
  
Chance looked at his deck where it was placed in his Duel Gear. "There are cards in my deck that you haven't seen Michael, and you know it." Chance drew another card but decided against playing it just yet. "Your move."  
  
Michael pulled back his own disc and drew a card. "It's too late now." He placed a card and threw the disc back into place. "I'm going to add the power of the Tome of Secrets to my Magician. I told you it was a good combo." The archaic book appeared in the hands of the Black Magician, sigils and runes written on the cover. "And since its more powerful then your Magician, I'm going to destroy it." Michael's Magician began to read the book and cast a powerful spell.  
  
"You're going to have to get lucky to destroy my Magician, because I have a trap down, Magical Silk Hats." The Black Magician disappeared, and a top hat appeared to cover him. Two more appeared by the sides and in a flash the hats changed places.  
  
"A useless move that will waste time. Black Magician, attack the left hat." The spellcaster raised his staff and the hat shattered in a display of dark energy. Chance's life points remained the same and his Black Magician appeared in the place where center hat had been. The two remaining hats disappeared. "I may have less life points but you're on the run and you know it." Michael taunted. "It's your move."  
  
Chance took a deep breath and returned his disc to him. He drew his next card and placed it on the field before returning the disc to its place. "I'm going to play the Ritual of Black Chaos Magic and sacrifice my Black Magician and a monster from my hand." On the field two altars appeared and runes glowed on the floor the Black Magician and a faceless card faded and forming into a ball of energy in the center of the rune circle. "I summon the Magician of Black Chaos (2800/2600)!" The magician appeared and surveyed the scene and thunder crashed in the background. It wasn't much taller then the Black Magician, but it floated with an unholy aura around it. "Now we're matched again, and you won't be able to attack. Your move."  
  
"Not the greatest of stalls but it could work. Unfortunately I was prepared for a play like that." He drew his card and tossed the disc out. "I'm going to attack the Magician of Black Chaos, and destroy both our monsters." The two Magicians attacked head on and their attacks destroyed one another. "Then I'm going to use Raise Dead to return the Black Magician to battle." The Magician appeared again, not noticing that it had been destroyed seconds before. "Your move Chance, but it will be one of your last."  
  
Chance shook his head at his opponent's arrogance and drew his 'last' card. He smiled once again as he knew that his deck had saved him again. He placed the new card and one from earlier and tossed his disc out. "This battle is perfect for my next card. I play the Black Magician Girl (2000/1700) in attack mode." The female mage appeared and stood only a little shorter then the Black Magician. "And we both know her effect. Since there is a Black Magician and a Magician of Black Chaos in the graveyard, her attack increases by 300 for each of them. I'll give you one more turn to make this battle worth my while before I destroy you."  
  
Michael pulled in his disc and looked angrily over to Chance. He drew his card and laughed. "You were foolish to give me one more draw, because now I'm going to take out the rest of your Magicians." He played a card and hurled the disc into the center stage. "I play the magic of Demon's Kiss on my Magician, and make it far more powerful then the Black Magician Girl." The evil magic crept over that Black Magician and his eyes glowed red with power. "You monster is gone!" The Magician raised his staff and fired a spell at the girl, who could do nothing but block the attack.  
  
"You fell right into my trap Michael. I didn't give you and extra turn so you could power your Magician, I did it so my trap could make things far easier." A wall of light appeared before the Black Magician Girl and reflected that attack back at Michael's mage. "Holy Barrier- Mirror Force."  
  
"I should have seen that coming. Finish me Chance." Michael said, hanging his head as the Black Magician shattered due to his own spell.  
  
Chance didn't bother to use his drawn card but instead replaced his disc back into the field. "Since there are now three Black Magicians or Magicians of Black Chaos in the graveyards my Black Magician Girl is at 2900, but your life points are far to low for that increase to mean anything. I attack your life points directly, destroying you and ending the game." The female mage chanted a spell and it went directly towards Michael. His life dropped to zero and the images of the dark castle and storm disappeared.  
  
"I don't see how I lost. My Magicians and deck were far better then yours." Michael said, standing still.  
  
"You have to remember that your deck should be ready for all cards, not just the ones your opponent has." Chance commented, walking over to Michael.  
  
Now that the holographic storm was gone, Lucas could be seen on the sidelines. "Hey Chance, great work!" Lucas told him happily, running onto the main stage. "You're the top in the northern division!"  
  
"I know Lucas, pretty good, right?" Chance said, smiling to his friend. He turned back to Michael. "I believe you owe me a pair of cards.  
  
"Fine, take your cards Chance, but remember that I'll return to beat you sooner or later, and the division title will be mine." The teen said, tossing the cards into Chance and walking out the door.  
  
"It was a dangerous bet Chance, but looks like you have an extra Black Magician now." Lucas said, picking the cards up from the arena stage.  
  
Chance took the pair of cards and slipped them into his deck. "Michael's helped me far more with these cards then he'll realize. I do hope to duel him again, but next time I hope there isn't a division title placed on the match."  
  
"Yeah. My duel should start sooner or later, so let's head down there now." Lucas said. "I'm going to get the division just like you did."  
  
"Listen Lucas, it's not that I don't want to see you duel but I'm going to check my deck and watch the other duelists at the front. The southern division match should be over so I'm going to see who won." Chance said, he smiled at his friend. "Listen, I'll get there and watch the match if you haven't already beaten your opponent."  
  
Lucas smiled back at his friend. "Okay, I'll head out there now, this will be the fastest division duel ever."  
  
"You'll win, I'm sure of it." Chance said, Lucas walked out the door and waved goodbye. Chance stood and breathed deeply before walking out the door himself. He looked both ways and saw nothing until the same figure as before walking in the distance. This time he could see the person properly. "Ichiro?" He said, the name echoing back and forth in the empty hall and the figure looked up. A look of surprise appeared on his face as he saw Chance and then he dodged into what appeared to be the wall.  
  
Chance ran forward and saw that he didn't just disappear into the wall, he had going through a large door. Clearly labelled on it were the words 'Employees Only' and a light click sounded when the door was completely closed. Chance stood there and looked at the door, he knew that it was Ichiro; he had even looked up at his name. Why was it that he had run and what in the world was he even doing working at the Duelist Dome?  
  
_________________________________________________  
  
End Transmission 


	4. Round 4: To Fight By The Sword

Note: The only thing from Yu-gi-oh that I am using is the game, Duel Monsters and Kaiba's Duel Discs. Forget all the creation concepts and characters from the show when reading this. The card names are all translated from Japanese, and the translations are from Edo (www.stormpages.com/edhrzic/Yugioh.htm), and the cards are all copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi. Also, please do not reproduce the characters or the story without my consent.   
  
____________________To Fight By The Sword____________________  
  
Lucas wandered down the hallway, looking at the doors as he passed until he arrived at his room. Checking his watch, he stood calmly before the door and took a deep breath. The doors reacted to him once he moved towards them and he walked into another domed duel arena, like the ones he had entered before. Standing across the main stage was a teenaged girl about the same age as Lucas was.  
  
"It took you long enough." The girl said coolly, checking her watch. "I've been waiting for quite a while. My name's Cassandra."  
  
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, I'm Lucas." Lucas said, pulling his wrist-piece up, showing his deck to his opponent. "I'm going to be risking the Goblin Strike Team in this duel." He pulled the card out and showed it before returning it to the rest of his cards.  
  
"Fine, I'll put up the Injection Angel Lily." She pulled the card and returned it, switching the on button on her Duel Disc while Lucas did the same. "Let's Duel." The walls of the dome wavered and they were suddenly standing in a huge field, wind ripping through the grass and whole area move like an ocean of green. The life point counters appeared above them and a large spinner materialized, rotating quickly and stopping on the girl.  
  
Lucas felt the deck shuffle on his wrist and pulled it up, drawing his first cards. He smiled widely as he looked them over. He had pulled both of his Red Eyes Black Dragons and the Lord of Dragons, Dragon Rular. He also had the Lamp Spirit, Ra Djinn and his trap card Burst Breath. If he could pull one of his Dragon Calling Horns this game could really change.  
  
Cassandra took a long look at her cards and drew, then placed two cards down on her Duel Disc. "I'm going to play one monster face-down and one magic or trap card." She announced, tossing her disc out. The disc created a large panel where the face down card was, and the holographic grass ruffled beneath it. "Your move."  
  
Lucas drew his card and looked over to it. It was the Demon Summon! He thought it over, best to save that for when he could pull Fusion, for now he'd have to abandon waiting for the Dragon Calling Horn and play a monster. "I play the Red Eyes Black Dragon, and put one magic or trap card down." He tossed his disc out and the wicked looking dragon appeared once more. "I'm going to attack your face down monster." Lucas said, and the dragon fired a ball of fire at the panel. The panel was shattered and Lucas saw a brief glimpse of a woman dressed in battle gear. "The Amazon Chain- Wielder?" Lucas asked out loud.  
  
"That's right, and since you destroyed it I can take one monster card from your hand." Lucas saw all his cards flip towards her, or at least his monsters. "I'll take your Demon Summon." She said, and the card was pulled over to her own hand.  
  
"Wait, I know the effect of that card too, and you have to pay 1500 life points." Lucas told her.  
  
"I know that, but I only lose 750 in the tournament." Her life points quickly dropped to 3250.  
  
"Your move." Lucas said calmly. This was still early in the battle, there were plenty good cards in his deck. And Lucas looked down at his trap card, something he had forgotten about.  
  
"I'm play the Demon Summon (2500/1200), your Demon Summon, to the field." She said, and the huge beast appeared.  
  
"Not so fast, I'm activating my trap, Burst Breath, and sacrifice my Red Eyes to destroy all monsters on the field with less defence than its attack of 2400, and that means the Demon Summon is gone." The dragons disappeared and a burst of wind hit the demon, shattering it into its own small shards.  
  
"Fine then, I didn't need your monster anyway. Your move." Cassandra said, unshaken by the attack.  
  
Lucas drew his card, the EvilKnight Dragon. He had the urge to put his Red Eyes on the field but he was slightly afraid of the trap card the girl had played down. "I'm going to play the EvilKnight Dragon (2350/2400) and attack you directly." Lucas said, playing the card down. When his disc was tossed out, the black serpentine dragon appeared, and fired a ray of black energy towards the girl. The attack was stopped suddenly as the girl played her trap card.  
  
"Attack Nullification, I'm not going to be taking any life point damage this round." She looked directly at Lucas and he waved her on, letting her take her turn. She drew her card and placed a card down on her Duel Disc. "I'm going to play the Warrior of the Sun (2100/1400)!" She called out, and the ready fighter appeared on the field.  
  
"Wait, the Warrior of the Sun? What was its effect?" Lucas asked quietly.  
  
"It gets 500 more attack points when battling a Dark-type monster, and I think that all of yours are. Attack the EvilKnight Dragon." Cassandra said to her monster, and it attacked the dragon, its attack rising to 2600. The dragon was quickly destroyed and its fragments flowed into the artificial wind over the field.  
  
Lucas' life point counter quickly changed to 3750 and he looked to his hand. With that kind of boost, he didn't have too many monster that could beat it. "My move?" He asked, and the girl nodded. He pulled his card. It was the God of Destruction - Vasago, which he had taken from Bailey. He put his Ra Djinn down in defence mode so he could stall for a turn and then tossed his disc out. "I can't make any other move this turn, so it's your move." He said.  
  
Cassandra pulled her disc back in and drew her card. "I'm going to play the Command Knight (1200/1900) in attack mode, and it gives all warrior monsters an increase of 400 attack points, raising its attack to 1600 and my Warrior of the Sun to 2500." She smiled. "Then I'll destroy your face- down card." The warrior once again rose up and shattered the panel, nothing more then a flash of light appearing as the monster dissolved. "Your move."  
  
Lucas looked carefully at his deck. He wasn't too sure about what could save him, it was only a few turns into the game and already he was on the run. For the fact that this was for the district title, he felt very weak. Drawing his card, he could only sigh. It was the Jar Demon (200/1800), just another card he could put into defence for now. Placing the card he tossed his disc out and motioned to the girl. "Go right ahead."  
  
Cassandra drew her card but didn't bother to play anything. "I'm going to destroy your next card." She declared, and the Jar Demon was shattered by the attack of her Warrior.  
  
Lucas drew his next card. The Jar of Greed, a lucky draw for him. "I'm going to play the Jar of Greed and draw two more cards." He declared, and drew two more cards. Fusion, a card he could have used rounds ago when he had his Demon Summon, and the Tyrant Dragon. Lucas smiled, his Tyrant Dragon was Fire-type, not Dark, and that made it more powerful then the Warrior of the Sun. "I'm going to play the Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!" He called out, and the huge dragon appeared in a burst of flame. The holographic fires didn't burn the equally false grass, but the embers did glow long after the dragon had appeared. "And I'm going to use him to destroy the Warrior of the Sun!" The dragons breathed deep and let out a cone of fire that concealed the fighter, leaving nothing but shards behind after the blast had passed.  
  
She looked fairly amused as her life points dropped to 2850. "My move?" She questioned, and Lucas shook his head.  
  
"The Tyrant Dragon is very powerful, because he can attack monsters twice. So I'm going to use him to destroy your Command Knight too. The dragon again fired a blast at the weaker monster. As the monster was destroyed the girl's life points fell farther to 1550. "It's your move." He said proudly.  
  
Cassandra drew her card and looked over to Lucas. "First I'm going to play the Wave Motion Cannon," The girl told Lucas, "It starts slow but I can do 1000 damage to you for every turn I have it in play. All I need is a couple of turns and I can take out most of your life points. I'll also put this trap or magic down." She smiled at him and pulled up another card. "Next I'm going to play the Ritual Of Chaos." The sky grew dark as two black altars appeared and she placed one monster on each altar. "Then I'm going to summon the ultimate warrior, Chaos Soldier (3000/2500)!" The armed fighter moved out from between the altars, the monsters forming balls of light that it absorbed. "Your Tyrant dragon is gone." The warrior raised its sword and tore the dragon in half, the halves disintegrating as the hologram ended and Lucas' life points fell to 3650. "Your move."  
  
Lucas looked again at his deck. He needed to draw just the right card. He reached over to his deck and prepared to draw his card. He pulled the card out face down and slowly turned it toward himself. He was staring directly into the face of the Demon Summon. Lucas turned to his opponent and grinned, playing his cards. "I'm going to use the magic of Fusion to combine the Red Eyes Black Dragon and the Demon Summon." Both monsters appeared on the field and slowly moved towards one another. They began to warp until they created a single new form. "The Black Demon's Dragon." Lucas said, looking at his new monster. "Attack the Chaos Soldier!" The dragon responded by lifting itself into the air and firing huge balls of fire at the warrior. The figure was engulfed in fire and the girl's life points fell to 1350.  
  
"I should have known that you'd play something like that after I knew that you had both the Red Eyes and the Demon Summon." She said, blaming herself for the mistake.  
  
"It's your move, let's see what you can do to my most powerful monster." Lucas said proudly.  
  
The girl drew her card and smiled. "I'm going to play my own Jar of Greed, and draw two more cards." She continued to smile as she drew her cards, and then placed both of them onto her Duel Disc. "I'm going to play Gaia the Fierce Knight (2300/2100) in attack mode, and equip him with the Demon Axe!" The horseman appeared on the field and the hideous weapon was placed on his back. His attack slowly began to rise to 3300 from the power of the axe and he discarded his lances for the weapon. "Before I attack though, I'm going to use Fusion Cancel to turn your Black Demon's Dragon into the Red Eyes and the Demon Summon. Attack the Demon Summon!" The girl called out, and the soldier ran forwards, carving a gash into the monster, the wound destroying it. Lucas watched his creature dissolve and his life points move to 2850. "Your move."  
  
Lucas drew his card and took a quick glimpse at it. He try to hide his regret as he pulled his second Fusion card, but for now he needed to play a monster. He moved his Red Eyes to defence mode and played his Lord Of Dragon onto the field face down. "I can't make any other moves, your move." He said calmly.  
  
Lucas' opponent drew another card and looked over to Lucas. "You'll remember that I've had my Wave Motion Cannon on the field for two turns now, so I'm going to use its effect and inflict 2000 damage to your life points." The cannon rose from the depths of her field and blasted a beam at Lucas. His life points quickly dropped to 850, and her as now losing the battle. "I'm going to play this monster down and attack your face-down card with Gaia." The warrior rose again and destroyed the Lord of Dragons, its figure only flashing as it was instantly destroyed. "Make your move."  
  
Lucas drew his card carefully and looked at it, the Harpies Feather Sweep. This would take care of the Demon Axe, but his Red Eyes was only a little more powerful than Gaia, and he was sure that the girl could pull another powerful warrior. What did he have that could turn this around? He took another look at his hand. The Feather Sweep was there, his Fusion and Vasago. Why was it that he had taken Vasago from Bailey's cards?  
  
"I'm waiting for your move." The girl said impatiently. "Stalling won't get you anywhere."  
  
Lucas looked up at her and then at his hand. Fusions. That was it. Vasago could replace a monster for Fusions. Lucas thought back, he could play another Black Demon's Dragon but he had an evil thought. One monster he hadn't been willing to play originally. "Okay, I'm ready to make my move." Lucas said proudly.  
  
"Finally, get it over with." Cassandra called back.  
  
"I'm going to use the magic of Fusion to combine the powers of The God of Destruction - Vasago, and my Red Eyes Black Dragon to form the ultimate evil Dragon." Lucas spoke out loud, feeling that unleashing this needed the same fan fare as her Chaos Soldier had. "The Meteor Black Dragon (3500/2000)!" He tossed his disk out and the huge hulking beast appeared in the glow of the Duel Disc. The monster took over a huge amount of the field, towering over Gaia. "I'll add the Harpies Feather Sweep to destroy your magic cards and then destroy Gaia the Fierce Knight!" The dragon drew in a huge amount of air and hurled a giant ball of fire and rock at the weakened warrior. The girl stood back from the blast as her life points fell to 150.  
  
"Your monster won't do too much good in the end." The girl commented.  
  
"Why not show me, your move." Lucas replied, crossing his arms.  
  
Cassandra drew her card and looked to Lucas. "I just drew my second Demon Axe." She declared. "I currently play with three or so monster recovery cards, all of them still in my deck. All I have to do is draw one of them and I can equip this on a reborn Chaos Soldier. All I have to do now is wait. And I'll play this monster down too." Two of her panels now glowed side by side as a pair of monster remained face down. "Your move."  
  
Lucas felt slightly panicked as he drew his card. If either of those monsters had a reverse effect like the Man-Eating Bug that Bailey had. Wait, this girl played with warriors and tactics, something like that wouldn't match her persona. It could be safe but he should be careful. His card was a Dragon Orb, not something he wanted to bother equipping on his Meteor Black Dragon right now. "I'm going to attack the left card." Lucas declared, and the monster was destroyed without any major effect. "Your move." Lucas said, partially relieved.  
  
Cassandra drew her card and put it down on her trap field, and then she shrugged. "Your move." She said calmly.  
  
Lucas once again felt paranoid as he drew his card. It was the Dragon Rage trap, and he realized that he might need it. He played the card and looked over to his opponent. "I'm not going to attack this turn." He told her. "Your move."  
  
Lucas watched her drew her card and she placed it down. "That was Cry of the Living Dead, sadly it's a trap card. I'm going to end my turn." She smiled over the Lucas and he had a chill in his spine.  
  
He drew a Fallen Angel: Mari card, but it was too late for it to make an impact of the game.  
  
"I'm going to activate my trap, Cry of the Living Dead and revive my Chaos Soldier from the cemetery." His opponent said as Lucas prepared himself. The monster grew out of the ground, he was slightly scuffed, no doubt an effect of being reborn after a lost battle.  
  
"You just wasted your card, there's nothing to stop me from tearing through your soldier." Lucas told her proudly.  
  
"Oh yes there is." The girl said, tapping a trap on the field. "This card is Shift Change, a card that allows me to move another monster in front of the attack. You'll end up destroying my face-down card, and then I'll destroy you."  
  
Lucas stood back, this definitely wasn't something he had expected. He looked down to his own trap field and smiled. "It's too late for that, I can already counter it." Lucas said happily.  
  
"What?" The girl yelled at him.  
  
"I'm going to activate my own trap, Dragon Rage. It allows me to do the difference between my attack and a weaker defence monster's defence in life point damage. That means that even with your card in defence, I'll still hit your life points." Lucas smiled wide and let this sink into the mind of his opponent, and she began to look angry. "Meteor Black Dragon, attack the defence monster!" He called out, and the dragon responded by firing a fireball at the glowing panel. The monster couldn't be seen in the dust of the blast. His opponent's life points dropped quickly to 0.  
  
Cassandra stood looking at Lucas as the holograms faded and they both pulled in their Duel Discs. She walked calmly over to Lucas and handed him the card. "A warrior knows when they've been defeated. Congratulations on winning the district title." She said in a complete calm, and she walked out the door.  
  
Lucas stood alone in the dueling arena and sighed audibly. He felt like he had been holding his breath the entire duel, tired from the battle. Then the thought hit him. He hadn't just won the duel; he was now the eastern district champion! Lucas couldn't stop himself from smiling. He walked out of the arena and saw Chance standing to the side of the door.  
  
"Hey Lucas, I heard that you won!" Chance exclaimed when he friend exited. "Congratulations."  
  
"It was a tough duel but I won it." Lucas said calmly. "I guess we're both champs now, right?" He asked.  
  
"Yup, and they called all of the district title winners to go to the front hall. If they're waiting for us we're late." Chance told Lucas. He hurried along the hallways and Lucas followed behind, and when they got to the front desk they found a different young lady from the morning standing there, and she nodded to both of them.  
  
"You're both the champions in your districts?" She asked them both.  
  
"Yup, I just took the Eastern title and Chance here has the Northern title." Lucas said happily to her.  
  
"Don't worry, I recognize you both." The woman said. "I just have to go over the rules for the final rounds."  
  
"That's okay." Chance told her.  
  
"First of all, you won't be facing another district champion first, you'll be playing against an eliminator that was selected randomly from other top duelists." The woman began. "If you fail to win the duel, the eliminator has to face your next opponent, and you'll be taken out of the tournament." Lucas and Chance exchanged glances. "Also, since you've made it this far, you have already been slotted for a new version of the Duel- Gear, which you can keep." She dug underneath the desk and brought of to boxes.  
  
Lucas and Chance opened their own boxes and were greeted by brand new Duel-Gears. The new models were slightly different, with twin rows of places on the Duel-Gear for monsters card and magic or trap cards to go. Underneath the wrist pieces were the Duel Discs, which had been redesigned, as cards would go onto the Duel-Gear instead of on the disc itself. Both units shone silver with slight differences in colour; Chance's was lined with a violet and Lucas' with deep red. Both units already had a card in them.  
  
"We really get to keep these?" Lucas asked the woman, who nodded happily. Lucas continued to look over the unit, moving his deck to its new home and switching the unit on.  
  
Chance pulled out that lone card that was in his Gear and looked at it carefully. The card had a picture of Chance on it, with an odd image of the Black Magician. The image was different from the normal artwork on the card; it looked almost like a real person in the outfit.  
  
"Those cards are individually made for each of the district champions. They represent the favoured card of the Duelist plus a image of the Duelist." The woman said, noticing Chance looking at his card. "I don't know what they're really for, but I understand that they have been programmed to work if you play it." She smiled again and moved back from the front of the desk, typing on the computer.  
  
Lucas pulled his own card, it represented him standing beside a Red Eyes Black Dragon, a different look for it but he could tell what it was.  
  
The woman turned back to them and handed them each a slip of plastic, with a room number clearly labelled on them. "These keys will open the elevator to the next floor. The room number is where you'll be meeting your next opponent. The matches will all begin at the same time so I suggest that you both leave now."  
  
Lucas and Chance walked away from the desk and towards the elevator. Chance had strapped his old Duel-Gear to his thigh and slipped his extra cards into it. The elevator beeped as they slipped the cards through the scanner and the elevator shook as it began to move back up.  
  
"So this is the first time we've been on the fifth floor, right Lucas?" Chance asked, listening to the elevator moving upwards.  
  
"Yeah, they haven't even opened the floor in the past seven months, the last time was when they tested that last set of new cards." Lucas commented, leaving against the back of the tube-shaped car.  
  
A beep ran through the car as it stopped at the highest floor. The floors were farther apart than most buildings, since most of the rooms needed extra space for the holographic players and other wiring. As the doors opened, both teens could see the skyline of Cerlanta City through the one-way windows. They stood at the crossroads of the floor, each way wrapping a different way around the center of the entire Duel Dome.  
  
"Ready for this Chance?" Lucas asked. He turned slightly towards where his room was.  
  
"It took us a long time to reach here," Chance told him, "but I know that I'm ready. We've both worked too hard to be beaten by an eliminator."  
  
"I'll see you after the duel Chance, good luck." Lucas said, walking off.  
  
Chance stood at the crossroads, and watched his friend walk off. He moved slowly towards his own room, ready to fight in his challenge.  
  
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End Transmission 


	5. Round 5: Dual Duels

Note: The only thing from Yu-gi-oh that I am using is the game, Duel Monsters and Kaiba's Duel Discs. Forget all the creation concepts and characters from the show when reading this. The card names are all translated from Japanese, the translations are from Edo and all of the cards are all copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi. Also, please do not reproduce the characters or the story without my consent.  
  
____________________Dual Duels____________________  
  
Chance walked around the center of the Duel Dome, the hallways were empty and spacious. This entire floor hadn't been used in a long time, most people knew the general reason but most of the details were called rumours. Chance found a small slip of paper on the Duel Gear and read the instruction that were printed on it.  
  
Since the new Duel Gear contained the spaces for the cards, the Duel Disc only existed to generate the card effects and monster holograms. This meant that one didn't have to toss the disc out every turn. It seemed like a perfect evolution of the Duel Disc system to Chance. He also liked the new look of it, all sleek and shiny.  
  
Chance found his room and began to tap quietly on his dueling deck. The doors slid open when he moved towards it and he was greeted to a very large, very dark room. The entire room was circular, with a square in the center for the dueling to take place on. Standing on the opposite end of the room was a dark figure with a green-lined Duel Disc System.  
  
"My name's Chance." He called out to the shadows. "I'm here to duel you."  
  
"I know who you are Chance." The figure said as he moved into the light. Chance quickly recognized the very familiar face.  
  
"Ichiro?" Chance asked, his friend pulling up his Duel Gear.  
  
"That's right Chance. It's time to Duel." Ichiro said. The room darkened for a moment before it was replaced with cliff beside the ocean. Digital spray from the waves could be seen far down the cliff. Small plants in the rocks shifted wildly in the wind. The life point counter appeared and the spinner began to spin quickly between Chance and Ichiro.  
  
"What are you doing here? You're good enough to actually be playing in the tournament, not playing as an eliminator." Chance called out, since the wind and the roar of the ocean produced far too much sound. He pulled his Duel Gear up and tossed forward the Disc.  
  
"I'll explain everything in due time, Chance. Until then duel with everything you've got." Ichiro told Chance as he tossed out his own disc. "Since this is an eliminator duel, you'll get a special prize for beating me, but you don't have to wager one of your own cards."  
  
"Sounds fair." Chance said. The spinner began to slow down and finally rested towards Ichiro. Both Duel Gears made a low rumble as they shuffled the decks.  
  
"Looks like I'm going to have the first move here." Ichiro said, drawing his cards.  
  
"Go right ahead." Chance told him as he drew his first hand. There were some good cards in his hand, but nothing to pull off an immediate combo with. He had drawn his Black Magician though, which was a lucky break. Since he had been winning all of the other cards Chance felt slightly worried that his deck might contain too much clutter and he wouldn't be able to draw anything.  
  
"I'm going to play one magic or trap card face down and end my turn." Ichiro said, the card flashing in one of the spaces closest to him.  
  
Chance looked at his hand and drew his card. That one card on the field worried him. What kind of trap was Ichiro pulling him into? He wasn't willing to sacrifice his Black Magician just to set off a trap.  
  
"I'm going to play Magnet Warrior Alpha (1400/1700) in attack mode and attack you directly!" Chance called out as his warrior fired off an attack towards Ichiro. Chance looked at the face-down card as the Alpha attacked and Ichiro's life points dropped to 2600.  
  
If that wasn't a trap then what could Ichiro be planning?  
  
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Lucas entered his own dueling arena and didn't even have a chance to look around before his opponent greeted him.  
  
"Welcome Lucas." The man standing across the room from him said. "My name is Gary." He pulled up his Duel Gear. "There's no need to say anything. This is going to be an elimination duel, and you're playing not only for your duel in the semi-finals but also for a pair of special prize cards."  
  
"Listen Gary, I've worked too hard to lose now. Are you ready to duel or not?" Lucas said, pulling his own Gear up.  
  
"Oh, I'm ready to duel all right." Gary said with a smile. The life point counter and spinner appeared between the two of them as their battleground became that of a desert. The spinner slowed and pointed at Lucas, who began drawing cards.  
  
Lucas looked at his cards and than at his opponent. By now people would be expecting certain cards from him, and he wasn't about to disappoint. His first hand contained the Demon Summon and the Fusion card. He drew Dragon Rage, but he didn't have a dragon in his hand quite yet. "I'm going to start with playing the Lamp Spirit - Ra Djinn (1800/1000) in attack mode." He tossed out his Duel Disc and played the card onto the field on his Gear. The genie appeared directly in front of him and stood silently. "Your move."  
  
"A very nice monster." Gary told him. "I see that you too play Demon monsters." He tossed his disc out and played a card. "I'm going to start by playing the Death Rook Demon (1100/1800) in defence mode. Then I'm going to play the Iron Cage of Nightmares." He played the card down and a cage of steel appeared around Lucas. "Your move."  
  
Lucas drew his next card, the Gilfar Demon. Not too much use right now. "Because your Iron Cage stops me from attacking, I have no choice but to end my turn." Lucas said to his opponent. The air between them was constantly being filled with the sand that as blowing back and forth.  
  
"I'm going to play the Genocide King (2000/1500) in attack mode. Sadly, I have to pay some of my life points for having the rook in play." Gary explained as his counter dropped to 3500. "I will then end my turn."  
  
Lucas looked directly at Gary as he drew his card. He grinned as he found that his card was the Red Eyes Black Dragon. "I'm going to use the power of Fusion to combine the Red Eyes Black Dragon and the Demon Summon into the Black Demon's Dragon!" The demon grew out onto the field, and the Iron Cage expanded to fit the monster inside. "It's your move now." Before his opponent made a move that cage dissolved.  
  
"A dangerous monster indeed." Gary commented as he drew his card. "I think I know exactly how you play now, so get ready, okay?"  
  
"I'm ready for anything you can throw at me Gary." Lucas told him.  
  
"I'm going to start by plying Gift to the Dead, and I'm going to discard 1 card to destroy your Demon Dragon." The monster was suddenly wrapped and dragged underground, but before Lucas could speak Gary continued. "I'm than going to play the Swift Lightning Demon King - Skull Demon (2500/1200)!" The monster appeared on the desert field, standing over Lucas' lone Ra Djinn. Gary's life points also dropped down to 2200 as he paid for his monsters. "And just to stop that annoying drop in life points, I'm going to play the Lair of the Ten Thousand Demon Lords!" The desert territory shook as he played the card, walls grew from ground and the sand shifted away to reveal the lair. "Attack the Ra Djinn!" He called out, and the monster fired a bolt of electricity to destroy the genie.  
  
Lucas was taken aback at the explosion that the monster caused, and he realized that the sound was echoing in the dungeon. He had just lost one of his best monsters and now he was up against an entire force of monsters. Gary motioned for him to draw and Lucas looked at his deck. What cards could save him now?  
  
_________________________________________________  
  
Chance stood listening to the crash of the waves while waiting for Ichiro's next move. His opponent played down the Millennium Shield in defence mode and equipped it with the Raregold Armour. Chance himself recognized the card, which Ichiro had played before. It would stop him from attacking any other monsters, and was a great way to stall for long amounts of time.  
  
"It's your move Chance." Ichiro told him, waking him from deep thought.  
  
"I really have to ask again." Chance said as he drew his card. It was the Fused Blade Murasame, but he didn't have a warrior to equip it on. "What is it that made you play as an eliminator? With you living in the south part of town you'd be a division champ by now." He motioned for his opponent and friend to make his move.  
  
"It's complicated." Ichiro told him, playing a monster face down. "I could be dueling an eliminator myself right now, but there was more being offered by this position." He looked at the deck that he was drawing from and then at Chance. "Your move."  
  
Chance drew his card and looked over at it. It was the Magnet Warrior Beta. He thought for a second about it and then realised that there was one way out of this. If he could combine all three Magnet warriors, then he just might be able to make it past that Shield. He played it face down and looked up at Ichiro. "It's your move." He told him.  
  
"I'm not at all surprised to see you here Chance." Ichiro told him. He played another card down and looked up at his friend. "How's Lucas been doing? We eliminators were told not to watch any of the battles. Your move."  
  
"Lucas is doing just fine." Chance said while he pulled his card. He held back his excitement as he drew the Magnet Valkyrion. "He's currently playing against his own eliminator. I end my turn."  
  
"Well I'm not surprised." Ichiro said as he played another card down. "We may not see him as a major competitor but with every duel he comes closer and closer to beating one of us." He motioned for Chance to go.  
  
"I must agree that he is getting better, but you should always have faith in him." Chance drew his card and thought about what to do with it. "I'm going to play Thunderbolt, and destroy all of your monsters!" The skies above glowed as multiple bolts of electricity fell towards Ichiro's monsters.  
  
"Not so fast Chance. I'm going to activate Declaration of God, pay half my life points and negate your Thunderbolt!" A holy man stood up out of the trap card space and stopped the thunder with his hand. Ichiro's life points then dropped to 1300.  
  
"I should have known that you'd be able to negate that." Chance said.  
  
"Don't worry." Ichiro said smiling. "I've been given nearly unlimited resources to build this deck."  
  
"I still can't figure out what you're playing." Chance thought out loud. "It's your move."  
  
_________________________________________________  
  
Lucas drew his next card and looked unhappily at another Ra Djinn. He could play his Gilfar Demon, but he might need it later. He put the genie card face down and looked over to the eliminator. "It's your move."  
  
"Very well." Gary drew his card placed it into his hand. "I'm going to attack your card with the Skull Demon!" The monster quickly destroyed Lucas' defences. "I'm then going to end my turn."  
  
Lucas nodded and drew his next card. This time he has pulled the Lord of Dragons. He did have the Flute of Dragon Summoning, but he didn't have any Dragons in his field. He still felt that he should keep the Gilfar Demon for now, so he placed down his Lord of Dragons instead. "I'm going to end my turn."  
  
"I'm going to place down one card and destroy your face-down card." His Skull Demon quickly destroyed the monster and Lucas again had an open field. "I was really hoping that a district champion would have a little more to play against me than just one big card." He said, crossing his arms. "Your move."  
  
"Oh, I've got cards to play. I just haven't pulled any of them yet." Lucas told him, pulling his card. It wasn't exactly what he wanted but it would have to do.  
  
"I'm going to start by removing three Demon monsters from my graveyard to summon the Dark Necrophia (2200/2800), and then I'm also going to summon the Gilfar Demon (2200/2500), both in attack mode." The pair of demons appeared on the field, side by side. "Now I'm going to destroy your Genocide King Demon!" The Gilfar demon leaped forward and slashed, its attack being stopped by a sudden wall of force.  
  
"You were so close there Lucas." Gary said calmly. "But I just activated my Attack Nullification card."  
  
"Am I the only person not playing that card?" Lucas asked. "It's your move."  
  
"I'm going to attack your Gilfar Demon with my Swift Lightning Demon King." Gary said. The monster shocked the other demon, shattering it into an array of light as Lucas' life points fell to 3000. "Your move."  
  
"It's too bad that you destroyed my Gilfar Demon." Lucas said, drawing his card.  
  
"Why's that?" Gary asked him, intrigued.  
  
"The Gilfar Demon has a special effect. You see, when it goes to the graveyard, I get to equip it onto a monster on the field. Take a look at your Skull Demon." Lucas explained, pointing to Gary's monster of the field.  
  
"His attack points have dropped by 500 points!" Gary exclaimed, looking at his monster. Grappling to the monster was the Gilfar Demon.  
  
"That's right," Lucas said proudly, "but before I destroy it I'm going to play the Harpy's Feather Sweep, to destroy the Lair of the Ten Thousand Demon Lords!" The walls and floor sunk into the sand as the desert once again became the dominant field. "Now Necrophia, destroy the Skull Demon!" The monster cleanly attack the monster as the Gilfar Demon held back its arms. The Demon King and the Gilfar demon then exploded into shards of light and Gary's life points fell to 2000.  
  
"I knew that there was more to you than your Black Demon Dragon Lucas." Gary said. "But that attack won't mean as much in the long run."  
  
"Oh but there is. It's your move." Lucas said, smiling to Gary.  
  
"Very well." Gary said, drawing his card. His life points then dropped to 700. "What?"  
  
"Oh, I thought that you might have noticed the change of scenery. Since I destroyed the Demon Lair, you have to pay for the Genocide King and the Death Rook." Lucas explained to Gary, proud of his move.  
  
"That's a very clever manoeuvre." Gary said. "But I always have a backup play. I'm going to play Pact with the Dark Master and sacrifice the monsters of the field plus one from my hand to summon the Dark Master - Zork (2700/1500)!" The monsters of the field dissolved and were replaced with a single large dark figure. "And one of Zork's abilities is to randomly destroy monsters on the field." A large die appeared in the center of the field and rolled end over end until it finally landed with one dot facing up.  
  
"What does a one mean?" Lucas asked as the die disappeared.  
  
"That means that I destroy all of your monsters, but since you only have the Dark Necrophia on the field, I'll have to just destroy it." Gary said as Necrophia was pulled into a black pit. "And now your life points are open. Attack him directly Dark Master!" Gary called out. Zork fired a sphere of black energy directly at Lucas and it exploded before him, his life points falling to 300 points. "Your move Lucas."  
  
"You know." Lucas started. "In most situations, I might be afraid right now."  
  
"And you should be. You're going to have a hard time protecting yourself against the Dark Master." Gary said.  
  
"You know so much about Demon monsters, and yet you've missed so much." Lucas told him. "The Dark Necrophia has an effect much like Gilfar Demon. Except instead of weakening your monster, I take control of it!" Lucas grinned wildly as the Dark Necrophia appeared on his side of the field and pulled over the Dark Master.  
  
"What?" Gary called out. "But that leaves my field completely open!"  
  
"That's right, and since you have no other cards on the field, I can attack your life points directly with your own monster." Lucas explained. "Attack him directly Dark Master Zork!" He called out, and the monster fired a ball of black energy towards Gary, exploding and finishing off his live points. Gary stood silent as the desert calmed around them and they returned to the Dueling Arena.  
  
"You know, I have called myself the Demon master in the past. But I have to say that I have never been beaten by Demon monsters before." Gary said, looking up. He walked across the tournament floor and present to cards to Lucas. "As an official eliminator I present with the Devilzoa and Metal Devilzoa cards."  
  
"Thank you." Lucas said bowing and taking the cards.  
  
"One more thing though. Since you defeated me I want you to take on the title of Demon Master and my Zork card and ritual." Gary offered up both of the cards.  
  
"Only if you really want me to have them." Lucas said, taking the cards. He put them all into his deck and bowed again to Gary. "Thanks for the duel, I'll see you around." He walked out of the room.  
  
It had been a very difficult duel, but he was now ready for the semi- final matches.  
  
_________________________________________________  
  
"I'm going to play one magic or trap and one monster card, both face down and end my turn." Ichiro said.  
  
Chance drew his next card, Magic Shield Arm. He placed it down and looked up at Ichiro. "I'll play this one card face down. Your move."  
  
"Anyway Chance," Ichiro said, drawing his next card. "What exactly do you expect to do after this duel? I'm not saying you're going to win, but I have to wonder, do you know about the other district champions?" He placed one card down and motioned for Chance to make his move.  
  
"I'm not really the kind to keep track of other players." Chance said, drawing his card. "All I know is that I try to be ready for anything." He looked down at his card, Magic Removal. "I'm going to start by playing Magic Removal and destroying your Raregold Armour. Then I'm going to play the Black Magician in attack mode, now I'm going to attack your first face down card."  
  
"Very nice move Chance, but it won't work as well as you thought." Ichiro warned.  
  
"Thanks for the warning Ichiro, but this is something I have to do. Attack the monster Black Magician." Chance said. The space flipped over to reveal the Water Guardian: Suga (2500/2400).  
  
"Your monster would normally destroy mine Chance, but Suga has the ability to lower your attack down to 0. And since my defence is higher, I'm also going to activate Counter-Punch!" Ichiro called out, and as the Black Magician ran full into a shield of water, the water guardian countered and destroyed the mage.  
  
"One of the Gate Guardians segments?" Chance asked Ichiro as his life points dropped to 1600.  
  
"That's right Chance. I'm playing with one of the rarest and most powerful monsters in the game." Ichiro said.  
  
"It's your turn then Ichiro." Chance said.  
  
"I'm going to play down another monster and end my turn." Ichiro noted.  
  
Chance drew his next card, the Magnet Warrior Gamma. He now had all the pieces he needed in order to play the Magnet Valkyrion. "I'm going to sacrifice the Magnet Warrior Alpha, Beta and Gamma to summon the Magnet Valkyrion (3500/3800)!" Chance called out. "Then I'm going to attack the Water Guardian Suga!"  
  
"Not so fast Chance!" Ichiro called out. "I'm going to play Shift Change to shift Suga with another face down card!" His face down monster jumped in the way of the attack and was suddenly destroyed.  
  
"You can't last too much longer." Chance warned. "I'll end my turn."  
  
"It's too late Chance." Ichiro said, smiling. "I'm going to play the Gate Guardian (3750/3400)!" The three parts of the monster that were on the field formed together, Suga on the bottom, Wind Guardian: Hyuuga as the midsection and Electric Guardian: Sanga for the upper body. "Now I'm going to destroy your Magnet Valkyrion!" The blast flew forward towards the smaller segmented monster.  
  
"Now it's my turn Ichiro, I'm going to play the Magic Shield Arm to pull your Millennium Shield in the way!" Chance called out, and the shield was destroyed in place of the Valkyrion.  
  
"Okay Chance, you've stopped one attack. But how many times can you block me?" Ichiro said. "I'm going to end my turn."  
  
Chance looked over the field and at the two monsters. While he couple play the Valkyrion in defence mode, it wouldn't be long until Ichiro could destroy it or equip the Gate Guardian with a weapon. Then again, if he pulled a weapon, it would all be over. He pulled the cards from the top of his deck and looked at the card. He looked directly into Gilford the Lightning. The monster was too weak to destroy the Gate Guardian by about 1000 points.  
  
"You've put up a good fight Chance, but these next turns will decide the fate of the game." Ichiro told his friend.  
  
Chance nodded and moved his hand to switch the Valkyrion to defence mode when a thought hit him. Gilford had an effect! "You're right Ichiro, but it all ends with my turn. I'm going to split the Magnet Valkyrion back into Alpha, Beta and Gamma, and then I'm going to sacrifice all three parts towards a sacrificial summoning of Gilford the Lightning!" Chance called out, and looked to Ichiro as his friend recognized the monster and the effect. "Gilford's special summoning destroys all of your monsters, or rather your Gate Guardian!" The thunder that struck the multi-part monster made such an echoing crash that Chance couldn't even hear the crashing that the wave did below.  
  
"The Gate Guardian!" Ichiro called out as the monster shattered.  
  
"That's right Ichiro." Chance told him, calming down. "And now your life points are completely open to a direct attack. Gilford, attack!" The monster leaped forward at his command and Ichiro's life points dropped to 0. The cliff and the ocean disappeared as the familiar surroundings of the Duel Arena appeared.  
  
"That was very good Chance, I thought that once I got out the Gate Guardian I would be unstoppable." Ichiro said.  
  
"It's okay, I was a little afraid there when you got that out." Chance said.  
  
"Well anyway, as an eliminator, I'm going to present you with the Chaos Soldier and the Ritual of Chaos." Ichiro said, presenting him with the cards.  
  
"Thanks Ichiro." Chance said, accepting the cards and putting the cards into his deck. "Listen, I have to know. What was it that they offered you to be an eliminator?"  
  
"Well Chance, you know me." Ichiro said. "They just had to offer me a couple of really nice cards that I've been looking for." Ichiro gave Chance a wide grin.  
  
"I should have known!" Chance said, smiling back. "Listen, I've got to go Duel in the semi-finals now, so you can watch me or go find Lucas."  
  
"It's no problem." Ichiro told him. "I'm going to go make a full report about our battle, but I'll try to watch the duels."  
  
"Great Duel Ichiro, I'll see you later then." Chance said as he nodded to his friend. He walked out of the arena and turned towards his next duel.  
  
"Good luck Chance." Ichiro said once the doors had shut. "I'm not sure if you're ready for your next challenges, but I'm behind you all the way." He then turned and walked out the back door towards the staff room.  
  
_________________________________________________  
  
End Transmission 


End file.
